Italy: 1/06

Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car

Ferrari GG50
It's nice to treat yourself once in while. Like, say, after fifty years of designing automobiles, to one day decide that you're long overdue a one-of-a-kind Ferrari. Sounds like a good idea to us! Apparently it sounded like a good idea to renowned auto designer Giorgetto Giugiaro too, who is both designer and owner of the GG50 that debuted at the Tokyo auto show. The car is in celebration of Giugiaro's fifty years designing automobiles-hence the GG50 name. Based upon the four-passenger Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, the GG50 appears much lighter, leaner and more aggressive. While only three inches shorter in overall length and with the same wheelbase length, the GG50 dispenses with the regular three-box shape of the 612, opting for a compact-looking hatchback rear end.
Squint your eyes and you'll see hints of Corvette, or even Nissan's last-generation Skyline sports car in the tail treatment. Don't get mad and think we're being unnecessarily rude. Try it and see for yourself.
From the front, there is no confusing the GG50 with anything other than high-horsepower Italian exotica, as the car appears to glare at you menacingly from its high-tech slivers of headlamp. Beneath the bodywork, there is a reworked interior and pretty much standard Scaglietti mechanicals such as the 540-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-12 and six-speed paddle-shift transmission.
There is nothing wrong with leaving well enough alone since the regular Scag's drivetrain is awfully potent. While there are no production plans for the GG50, it may offer hints as to the Scaglietti's future design direction. The car has been routinely praised for its dynamics, yet the overall design is pleasant but a touch ungainly. A visual tightening, like that in the GG50, that can be finagled without totally reworking the mechanicals should have the folks at Ferrari paying attention to the public's reaction toward Giugiaro's very nice present to himself.
Fenomenon Stratos
Just what is "holistic design?" Apparently, it is the philosophy of seeing a new automobile from a simple sketch on a drawing pad, through the smallest details of final production and marketing planning. It is also the backbone of a new design company in London that is pinning its hopes on producing a 21st century version of the Lancia Stratos, the mid-engine sports car that won rally championships in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Company founder Christian Hrabalek is a certified Stratos nut, as he owns the world's largest collection of Lancia's famed rally and road car. When Fenomenon debuted at the Geneva auto show in 2005, Hrabalek had one of his very own cars on the stand next to it. That in itself is a bold move, considering that many modern renditions of a classic model fail to live up to the presence of the original. Not so the lime-green Fenomenon Stratos, with its Ferrari 360 running gear, proposed four-wheel drive and very cool split-screen windshield. Better still, rather than sinking into oblivion after a brief moment of glory, Fenomenon was back six months later, at the Frankfurt auto show, with new models. This time the coupe was in a retro Alitalia red, white and green paint-a livery synonymous with Lancia's Stratos rally cars. A convertible version was also shown, and the company appeared bolstered by good press, favorable public reaction and the potential of finding a large auto company to partner with in production of the car. The Ferrari running gear might have to be ditched-depending on future partnerships. Pitched as a rugged super-car with four-wheel drive and long travel suspension, one that newly rich clients in Eastern Europe, Russia and China can drive on rugged roads, is a very intriguing angle. Though the jury is still out on the "holistic design" name-sounds a tad call-the-mother-ship cultish to us. However, the Fenomenon Stratos is a looker, and if a partner with deep pockets can be found, and the car's price kept under Ferrari and Lamborghini territory, it might turn out to be a divine drive. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Lamborghini Espada
The car for Lamborghini owners with kids, dogs or lots of gardening supplies to carry could be arriving as early as 2007-though 2009 seems more likely. A new 2+2 coupe, called Espada, is in the development stages, with no decision yet as to whether it will be powered by a V-8, V-10 or V-12. It is not even clear whether the car will be front- or mid-engined. The latter option would require more development time as it would not be based upon the current Murciélago or Gallardo platforms. The Espada name goes back to Lamborghini's wonderfully outlandish businessman's express (pictured). Produced from 1968-'78, over 1,200 Espadas were sold.

This article originally appeared in the January, 2006 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.